


Stage Manager: Arachne

by Idhren



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), Twisted Threads - The Mechanisms (Song)
Genre: Audio Content, Embedded Audio, Embedded Images, Gen, Line Art, Original Statement (The Magnus Archives), Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Poetry, Season/Series 04 Spoilers, Sestina, Spiders, Statement Transcript on Magnus Institute Form (The Magnus Archives), wetalkofdreamsxxx
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28450932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idhren/pseuds/Idhren
Summary: "It's an old story, the spinning thread /of Arachne beating Athena's game"A minor mountain of TMA meta in a poem format suitable for obsessive red-stringing.
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written and performed in honor of Nico Vettese's 30th birthday during The Magnus Archives' season 5 second hiatus.

JJ's statement regarding _The Magnus Archives_. 

[CLICK]

Statement begins. It's an old story, the spinning thread  
of Arachne beating Athena's game, being turned  
into a spider after weaving a true record  
of the gods' vices: fine fabric for the public eye!  
Athena won the war - she kept Arachne quiet.

Arachne lived, as did her rage. Working quiet  
she learned new names, new games. Weaving, tapping lines-

[CLICK]

-she found Athena's focus, Magnus, the owl's eye.  
He sought to crown himself a god undying – thread  
enough to hang him. Say it for the recorder:  
this Jonah left his prison-body sightless, turned

new flesh his, left his old open to be turned  
spider sac, husk for her to fill qui-et-ly.  
She knew puppets, knew how to edit records.  
Let men take center stage: when they opened-

[CLICK]

-doors locked for a reason, she'd have her own thread  
right there, ready to make them dance for the Eye.

More fears warped her weave for fooling the Eye.  
One nest was burning, child Agnes turning  
potent threat – the spider tugged Eye to thread  
the Archivist into Agnes, quiet  
her blaze with mortal ties to Web's wood-

[CLICK]

-pulled from her table, ALTER RECORD.

Annabelle had a tape recorder.  
When she switched it on, she had the Eye's  
attention where it whirred, until-

[CLICK]

-she decided it was time to turn  
it off. She listened to the quiet.  
She heard the take, spliced the daily thread.

Spiders have eight legs, eight eyes, threads  
beyond counting. Time to record:  
Alexia won't be quiet  
Alison brings films to the Eye  
Anya's life takes a surreal turn  
Angie tells web admin's tale-

[CLICK]

-Amy, Abi, Annie's thread to uproot Agnes for Eye's  
feast on story made record, shaping its Archivist's turn  
into Web's tool for quietly winning. Statement ends.

[CLICK]


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

> This transformative work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
> 
> [Original public release under my J.J. Hunter pseudonym at Dreamwidth](https://jjhunter.dreamwidth.org/519320.html). DW masterpost includes some additional context for the Nico 30th birthday project (wetalkofdreamsxxx) that is omitted here.
> 
> Many thanks to Anne [[Twitter](http://twitter.com/aneilert)], for beta reading and general encouragement.
> 
> The Magnus Institute logo belongs to the creators of TMA, i.e. Rusty Quill Ltd. For more information, visit [rustyquill.com](https://rustyquill.com/).
> 
> Deluxe TMA transcript-style layout and spider art by the amazing [Ecchima](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ecchima/pseuds/Ecchima), aka [Ecchimas_art [twitter]](http://twitter.com/Ecchimas_art) / [ecchimas [instagram]](https://www.instagram.com/ecchimas) / [ecchima [tumblr]](http://ecchima.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Verbal 'click!' noise sampled from Rusty Quill's patreon bonus episode "TMA Outtakes: Alex the Lonely" (same Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License); presumed vocalized by Alexander J. Newall. 
> 
> Framing / first stanza loosely inspired by "Twisted Threads" from The Mechanisms' album "Tales To Be Told, Volume II". ([Lyrics](https://genius.com/The-mechanisms-twisted-threads-lyrics) / [Audio [YouTube]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RShAFYdesV8)). I've been thinking about a possible Arachne-Athena rematch going on in the background of TMA for some time now, and not just between Web and Eye. Is Annabelle doing exactly what the Mother of Puppets desires of her, or is the mortal vs. god rematch here potentially also between Annabelle and her patron entity?
> 
> ===  
> Revised 1/7/21 to change first line of final stanza from the original "-Annie is Anne, Anna, thread to uproot Agnes" (version in audio recording) to "-Amy, Abi, Annie's thread to uproot Agnes" per my realization of Abigail "Abi" Ellison's pivotal role in MAG104 in instigating Danny's urban exploration craze (and suggestive Web language throughout the rest of the statement - little nudges, Danny's reference to a ghost building below a current building being “the discarded cocoons of its previous life”, Tim being held by unseen force and forced to watch the 'show') and Rebecca's suggestion that Amy Patel from MAG003 (Graham Folger's former classmate and Web table watcher/stalker) also fits the pattern of A-name female assistants instigating statement-worth experiences for later routing to the Institute.


End file.
